


The Last Lucky Coin

by tnnyoh



Series: In All Prisms [1]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, DOTO spoilers, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Human!Outsider, Non-Graphic Violence, Other, Post DotO, Return of Daud spoilers, emsider, it's both canon compliant AND divergent hah gotta love multiverse shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 05:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13451436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: Billie takes on a job that may just be more trouble than it's worth.





	1. Restless Days and Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers from the main games and all the DLCS, spoilers from DOTO and the comics as well as The Corroded Man may be present in this and all fics in this series, please proceed with caution.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie and Oliver take on a job that just might be more trouble than it's worth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic takes place in the same universe as Shadows in Silver and EMBERS, references will be made to those fics. 
> 
> Fic takes place two months after the events of DOTO, about four-five months after the events of Dishonored 2.

**I** t was strange, being human again.  The Outsider was no longer the mouthpiece of the Void, he was a man, alive again.   It had been nearly two months since the events that happened down in the mine and in the center of the Void.

He found himself slipping into the role of a human very well, Billie and him had taken up residence in an old apartment building that had been evacuated during Delilah's coup.  It wasn't that messy, and it provided shelter from the elements and from prying eyes.  He wasn't exactly someone who didn't get strange looks if he were out and about.  His fashion sense didn't match with this era.  Nor did his way of speaking.

He woke up one afternoon drenched in sweat, he had nightmares most nights. Sometimes he didn't remember them, he was grateful for those times.  But others he would wake up screaming.  Flashes of memories, cultists, a knife, and a boy who lost his name.   Today was one of the days he did not remember the dreams of the previous night.  He pushed the covers off and sat up on the side of the bed. He felt so strange being here in this karnacan apartment, when just two months ago he was trapped in the Void, kept awake for centuries. 

Sleep was a welcome gift to him, despite the nightmares.  He hadn't slept for a very long time.  When Billie and him first left the Ritual Hold and found a place to sleep, he had been out for days. 

He took a deep breath, today was another day.  What would this day bring, he wondered.  He pushed himself off the bed and felt his bare feet against the wooden floor.  It was strange for him to not feel the ice cold stone of the Void beneath his feet.  When he was merely a street urchin, kidnapped and taken advantage of, they had kept him locked in a cage, they didn't feed him much.  He remembered that when he arrived with them he had no shoes.  They gave him boots to wear.

He hated them, he hated the clothes on his back.  They were drenched with cold from the Void and a thousand painful memories.  Billie had snatched some new clothes for him in the weeks that followed, when she asked what he wanted to do with the old clothes, he urged her to toss them into the fire.  She understood all too well what it felt like to want to burn away your past and your bad memories.  He was also grateful for that.

In the past two months he had made no attempt to contact the Empress of the Isles, Emily Kaldwin.  Despite having broken fragmented memories of having been with her on many occasions and through many adventures.  He had very little clue what had happened in that mausoleum with her and the others, but he was sure of one thing.  It didn't exist anymore. What was, was not.

 _So why did he remember it?_

"Rise and shine sleepy head" a voice said behind him, It was Billie, of course.  She was leaning against the door frame

"I'm mostly already up" He said, indicating his standing position

"Yeah I can see that" She said snarkily "But you haven't made it downstairs."

"I'll come down in a little bit, I need to... brush my hair" He said, bed head was something he was not happy about.  He always rolled out of bed looking like the beggar he once was.   Guess you can take the boy out of the streets, but you can't take the streets out of the boy.

Billie made her way back downstairs as he went into the bathroom, grabbing a brush and pulling it through his hair.  He had been alive for two months, and he couldn't handle his reflection. It was still such a shock to him.  For thousands of years he hadn't seen his own face. He had forgotten what it looked like.   Only seeing snippets of what he might have looked like in other peoples art, Sokolov, Delilah.  But he looked nothing like how they painted him.  He looked different.

He brushed his teeth and splashed his face with water, heading back to his room to get dressed.  He grabbed one of his button up shirts, black, and put it on. Finishing it off with a wool pull over vest.  He was grateful just being able to wear other outfits. 

He finished getting dressed and headed downstairs to meet Billie, she was sitting at the table with a grin on her face and a basket full of food

"Where did all this come from?"

"Victor down at the market" She said "He's fond of me and he says you look like a walking skeleton"

"That's a little rude"

Billie chuckled "If it aint the truth, we both do, We've been eating what... scraps?"

He grabbed a bread roll from the basket and started to munch away at it as he nodded.  They spent a little while in silence before he spoke again

 

"Hey uh" He swallowed "I was wondering... Why haven't you...."

 

"Contacted her imperial grace?" Billie said, pausing with a chunk of bread and cheese in her hand, he nodded 

 

Billie shrugged "I don't know, It's just... It's weird. I haven't actually _seen_ Emily since I told her I helped Daud kill her mother and kidnap her. It's just, I don't know if I want to open up those gates"

 

"Even after what I told you?"

 

"I'll admit, it's weird but... It's not that weird.  I was having memories of shit that technically didn't happen either.  But hey, regardless of whatever adventures you and Emily had, you haven't... contacted her either"

 

He felt heat at the back of his neck and he knew his cheeks were turning red "I don't know how to um... It's different now" 

 

"Because you're human?" 

 

"Yeah, I have no idea how she's going to react to this. How she would, I was there with her... but it was different, like a whisper. I wasn't real" 

 

"Now you're pretty real" Billie took a bit of her cheese 

 

"Besides" He said "It's been two months, after what happened in Morley she likely thinks I died or something, after we went through the portal... I mean what am I supposed to do, send a letter saying 'I'm sorry your grace, I didn't die, I became human again, toodles'"  That's not really an option"

 

"So we're both afraid" Billie deducted "Is that it?"

 

"Pretty much" he said with a sad chuckle

"What happened in that place?" Billie asked "I know you've told me about it before, but what's with the portal?"

He shrugged "I have no idea, all I know is the place was falling apart around us and it was the only way out, but... something happened when we went through it, and then I woke up in the Ritual Hold. But that place, Billie... I just, I knew when I touched those stones that it was Envisioned, they were there"

"A really old hideout" She remarked

"It seemed like the place that they... they had taken me, long ago. But It looked so different, I couldn't tell if it was the same at all."  He went quiet for a moment before speaking again.

Billie arched her eyebrow and without a response she got up from the chair and grabbed some of the fruit in the basket, She put in in the chiller so it didn't end up mushy in the Karnaca heat.

"Maybe you're right though, it's been long enough.  We should make contact with the Empress.  It doesn't mean we have to go to Dunwall" 

 

"Or we could go somewhere else" he said

 

She shut the refrigerator door and looked at him "On what coin? We haven't had a job in months"

 

"Because you keep turning down most of them"

 

"I only turn down the ones involving killing, it's not part of my life anymore.  The last job I had to kill someone didn't _exactly_ end up the way I thought."  She said, giving him a look

 

He responded by throwing his hands up in the air "I'm sorry" He said with heavy sarcasm "I apologize for being alive"

 

Billie threw the apple she was still holding at him, he ducked out of the way and it hit the back wall, leaving a small dent

 

"Hey!" Billie shouted "You're fixing that!" 

 

"With what?" He asked "All the tools I have?"

 

"You've been alive long enough to figure it out" She sneered "We're going out today anyway."

 

"Why?" 

 

"Because you've been holed up here for weeks and I didn't haul your ass out of the Void for you to die in your bedroom"

 

He obliged, She had a point - It had been a while since he had simply gone out for a stroll.  It wasn't that he hated the outdoors, it was that living in Karnaca worried him a little bit.  It was the headquarters for the Eyeless cult after all.  Though the cult hadn't been heard from in the papers for the past several months.   He was still a little paranoid.

 

"Fine, I'll come with you." He said, taking one last bite of his bread and cheese before getting up from the table.  He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten at a table.  He would often get flashes of memories from his previous life, eating from the floor, picking food out of the trash.  Shared meals with a man who he forgot the name of. This was different, this was new.  He was surprised that even after four thousand years, he was able to experience _new_.  "But I do think we should contact Emily"

 

Billie grabbed the keys for the apartment, intending to lock it up after they left as she always did, "You know" She said as they exited the apartment and headed out to venture the streets "You could contact Emily and not mention anything about me, or where you are, or where you've been or how you became human again"

 

He responded with a hearty laugh "Oh sure, I'm sure she would just accept that at face value and never ask about it again" 

 

"Perfect" Billie said, giving him a little bump with her shoulder

 

* * *

Over the last couple of months he had taken to being called "Oliver" He remembered that much from his adventures with Emily, she had given him the name so as to not arouse suspicion from the others in their group.  It was something that kind of stuck with him, it felt right.

 

He remembered Daud whispering his name in his ear down in the Void, But he wanted to shed who he used to be all those years ago.  Billie occasionally bugged him about it, she was curious, but she also knew when to quit. And she informed him on more than one occasion that he didn't really have to tell her. 

 

The two walked down the street and enjoyed the fresh air. Karnaca was an island so it never got any snow during the colder months, but the chill in the air marked the change in the weather and he knew Dunwall must be covered in white by now.  It made him all the more eager to convince Billie to contact Emily.   He had never seen snow, not first hand anyway. 

 

"We need more clothes" Billie remarked as the two walked past many different shops and markets.  It was strange, months ago Karnaca was suffering because of the Duke, many businesses had shut down and many people were left without a coin to their name. It seemed that Paolo was in a leadership role now, Advisor to the Duke of Serokos.  Oliver wondered how Liam Byrne felt about that.    After Emily had come through here she had vowed to make Karnaca a more livable place for it's citizens, He hoped she knew what she was getting into, siding with Paolo. 

 

"We've been walking around here like vagrants" Billie said, he realized that she must have been talking and the entire time he had been lost in his thoughts. 

 

"Oh uh, yeah we do need some new clothes" He said

 

"Not paying attention, are you?" Billie asked.

 

"Not in the slightest" He shrugged "I'm sorry Billie" He said "I just.. I can't stop thinking about..."

 

She threw her head back and laughed, Oliver really enjoyed the sound of her laughter. He had watched her for years and all he had seen was sadness, it was nice to see she had light still in her. "You're thinking about _Emily_ , aren't you?" 

 

He decided not to answer, instead getting lost in thought about Billie and him.  The past few months had been a whirlwind, and he watched her go from a broken woman to someone who was finally starting to pick herself back up.  She had mourned Daud for a long time and she mourned him still.  But it seemed like he wasn't the only one who came back to life in the mines.   Billie left there a changed woman.   

 

She wasn't a happy-go-lucky fool who only saw the good in things, mind, but she wasn't as hopeless as she was before. She saw with new eyes the things of the world, just as he saw with old eyes.  In a way they were perfectly matched, almost as if fate had brought them into each others lives.  When he was alive he had never had a sibling so he had no idea what it was like to form that kind of bond with another human being.  

 

With Billie over the last few months, he was starting to put the pieces together.  She felt like family to him.

 

The two spent the first couple of weeks after she pulled him up from the Void wandering the city and had quickly taken refuge in a building that had been abandoned some time before.    They had their work cut out for them as the Abbey of The Everyman was searching for Billie for crimes against the Abbey, and property of stolen heretical artifacts. 

 

One afternoon, He and Billie had been taking a stroll to get some fresh air only to notice there were new wanted posters up beside hers.    He stopped in front of it and let his eyes take it in, it depicted a rough sketch a young man who looked not unlike himself 

 

**"WANTED: THIS PERSON OF INTEREST HAS BEEN SPOTTED WITH ARMED AND DANGEROUS OCCULT MEMBER, BILLIE LURK. ANY SIGHTINGS SHOULD BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE ABBEY OF THE EVERYMAN. IF YOU SEE THIS INDIVIDUAL, DO NOT ENGAGE HIM YOURSELF.  HE IS ALSO CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS."**

 

He gave Billie a look and she shrugged as she stepped closer to the poster, pulling it down and folding it up to put in her coat pocket.  He couldn't help but laugh.  They spent nights taking down each poster they saw of Billie and him, they even managed to snag a few old Daud posters as well.   He remembered one particular night where he had almost fallen off a roof where they had found a very rare Emily Kaldwin wanted poster. 

 

All of them had been painted over or taken down when Delilah's coup had ended, but some of them were bound to be left behind and forgotten.  He kept this in his room in the apartment they stayed. 

 

His thoughts turned back to the present, Billie had been talking this entire time.  He stopped walking. "Billie" he said

 

She turned around, her eyebrow raised "You weren't listening to anything I was saying again, were you?"

 

He shrugged "I apologize."   She nodded, Billie understood how hard everything was for him.  She was among only a few people in the world who knew what he had truly been through in his life.   

 

"It's nothing" Billie replied "I mean you were trapped in the Void for four thousand years or so, If you don't get a little lost in thought sometime, I'd get worried" 

 

The mention of The Void took him off guard, it was so easy for her to say it but he felt like he was walking through mud. His body felt cold suddenly and a feeling of dread washed over him.  He felt like he was shaking from the inside out. Billie saw it and walked closer to him, she put her hand on his arm like she had done back in the mines.  "What is it?"

 

"It's... not that I don't appreciate the support for my flightiness. But.. I..." He didn't know the words, he couldn't find them.  Maybe they were trapped in the Void as well. 

 

He couldn't face her anymore and before he knew what he was doing, he ran away from the woman in front of him, His feet pounding against the street and echoing in his head.  He was so distracted by the pounding that he didn't realize when Billie appeared right in front of him.

 

"Shit" He said, skidding to a stop "Don't _do_ that!" 

 

Billie grinned and placed a hand on his shoulder "What? You get to do it but I can't? Not fair.  Did you forget I can _see_ where you go with my fancy little powers?" 

 

"I kind of did" He admitted

 

Billie shook her head "Come on, lets talk about this.  You've been... acting weird for, well as long as I've known you, but more so recently" 

 

He sighed and sat on a bench to his right, Billie joined him and looked at him in a way she thought didn't betray her concern, but he knew she was. 

 

"I don't know" he finally said "I freaked out back there" 

 

"I noticed" Billie said

 

"When I was..." he gestured his hand so he wouldn't have to say the words "I didn't think about it as much, the... what happened.  But now, so many little things remind me of... what happened"

 

Billie put her hand on his "Stop, you don't have to talk about this.  I know that what I went through.. it doesn't even, it _can't_  compare to what happened to you. But, I have seen awful things, and I have things that haunt me and I would never expect you to talk about what haunts you"

 

He frowned at her "It's not a competition, Billie.  We've both been through so much.  You're one of the only people I think I can begin to talk about this with." 

 

"One of?" Billie raised an eyebrow

 

"Emily" He said, his voice barely above a whisper, he felt his face flush. 

 

"You really like Emily, don't you?" 

 

"I don't know what that _means_ Billie" 

 

She nudged against him gently "You're not an idiot, come on."

 

"I have found myself becoming close with Emily, it was rather unexpected. I still remember the years after Delilah's coup, I'd spend so much time with her, I traveled with her to Karnaca, we stopped some horrible things in Morley."

 

"It must be so strange to remember things that have never happened" Billie said, looking out at the street and watching some of the people passing by

 

"That's something we both have experience with." He nudged her this time "And it's not so strange, more disorienting. If I remember this, I wonder, does Emily?" 

 

Billie sighed "Kid, if you're gonna make me go to Dunwall you better be buying me a couple drinks before so I don't have to be sober when I see Emily again" 

 

"It's not as if she hates you, Billie" He took a deep breath.  He knew that nothing good would come from avoidance, the two needed to visit Dunwall eventually, but Oliver wasn't sure what had happened when they walked through that portal, and he had no idea how Emily would react to any of this.

Was it all real? So much had changed. Delilah's coup was _recent_  now, it had all but just happened.  He had tried to keep up with the news in Dunwall but there was nothing about The Lord Protector's death.  He had no way of knowing if what happened back in Morley had happened at all. 

 

"I doubt she's very fond of me though" Billie stood up "I think it's time to look for something to do" She said "We need to find a job or three" 

 

"Jobs?" He sighed and stood up as well, brushing dust from the bench off his clothes "We already have food" 

 

"For now" Billie responded, leading him in the direction of the job board down near the alley, it was normally overwhelmed with slips of paper from people looking for work done on the sly.  Because of it's location constantly changing, The Grand Guard was unlikely to find it, or to take it down.   They had been taking jobs from the board for a couple of months now.  

 

Today there were only four notes posted to the board, Billie looked them over in silence while Oliver stood beside her.  He didn't feel much like reading, he stared at the board and wondered how many people had posted hit requests on here, this was a place for dirty work after all.  

 

His thoughts were interrupted by a smack in the face by a piece of parchment paper blown in his direction by a gust of wind.  He was accustomed to the sandstorms and getting sand in his hair and mouth, but tasting paper was something that did not occur often enough for him to be used to it. 

 

He grabbed the paper before it blew away and read

 

**NEED A COIN STOLEN FROM ROSCOE CALLOWAY**

_Need a "lucky" coin stolen from Roscoe Calloway, rich hagwash who stole this from me. Will pay TOP coin for this._

 

_Obviously not gonna pay you the lucky coin, don't even ask._

 

_Roscoe Calloway lives in Upper Cyria, steal the coin from his mansion and meet at the rendezvous point near the base of Shinderey._

 

_600 coin._

 

"Billie" He nudged her "Look at this" 

 

She leaned over to read the paper he was holding "A lucky coin?" She read on "Roscoe Calloway? I've heard of him,  When Anton and I lived down here before he mentioned a story he heard about Calloway." 

 

Oliver grimaced at the mention of Anton Sokolov.  He _hated_  that man.  Billie knew how he felt, and she never tried to change his mind or get him to explain why, she just let him feel it.  She never asked him to explain himself, that was one of the things he was fond of Billie for.  

 

"I know something about Calloway" Oliver said with a smirk 

 

There was an upside to being a former God, he had known so many secrets and stories, he had seen through all eras. He didn't remember everything, but he seemed to somehow retain a connection to the Void, if only enough to recall facts about those he meets, sometimes images accompanied those facts. 

 

"Oh?" Billie said, taking the paper and folding it up "What's that?" 

 

The two walked away as the sun in Karnaca was at it's brightest, This was going to be one long night. 

 


	2. Much Needed Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Oliver and Billie get ready for a new job, Emily Kaldwin mourns the loss of an important person.

She was shaken to her core. Emily looked at herself in the mirror.  She looked like a corpse.

 

Her father was _dead_.  _He_ was the one who was a corpse.

  
She recalled him lying there on the floor of the mausoleum in Morley, choking on his own blood after being rammed through the heart by the strange beast that appeared out of the ground. 

When they traveled through the portal, when Emily found herself back where she had been following Delilah's coup... She thought it might have changed, that it all went back, that everything had reverted to before... Another chance, she thought. 

 

There was no way for her to explain what had happened to her in Morley, but she knew it _had_ happened.   The past two years after Delilah's coup seemingly erased in an instant, it was as if time rewrote itself around her.  But her father, Corvo Attano, Lord Protector, was still gone. 

 

She was washed in grief and most days she was unable to function. Canceling many of her official royal duties due to "distress" She hadn't felt this broken since her mother was killed all those years ago by Daud.   She was supposed to deliver a public eulogy on her father, how could she possibly do this?

She had received correspondence from Marcus Edwards of Morley after the events that had transpired, the letter arrived with a Morley stamp and a notice that it is fragile. Emily suspected it was mostly to keep people away from trying to pry it open to read it.  

 

_Emily, I am so sorry about your father.  Corvo was a good man who loved you very much, I know you must be sick of hearing these platitudes but you know that this comes from my heart.  
_

_I do not know what has happened to us, But I remember as clear as day watching what happened in that mausoleum, it seems as though much has changed but these memories feel real.  
_

_Please, if you can find Cecelia, have her send me correspondence, I will try to get to Dunwall as soon as I possibly can._

_Your friend,_

_Marcus_

Emily read over the letter again until the words no longer made sense and it looked like a foreign language.  What was she supposed to do?

Where _was_ Cecelia? She had wondered the moment she realized what had happened.  That the world had reset itself.  Emily lay her head upon her desk.  

She wasn't ready to write her father's eulogy.

She closed her eyes, not intending to fall asleep.  But sleep welcomed her.

* * * *

Oliver paced back and forth in the apartment as he and Billie prepared for the job, stealing a coin from Roscoe Calloway.  It sounded simple enough.  but even though he knew that, he felt himself shaking from nervousness.

"Are you alright?" Billie asked, turning her attention from her bag to Oliver. 

"No" Oliver said automatically "I mean, yes.  I mean I don't know!"   He took a deep breath and sat down on the sofa in front of the window.  Their apartment wasn't the largest in Karnaca, but had space enough.  Oliver wasn't used to being in a place that didn't make him feel like the walls were closing in on him.  He often likened his time in the Void to being stuck in a closet.  

"What's wrong?" Billie asked "It's not like this is your first time out."  Billie chuckled.  When she and him had first started taking jobs together, he had been a nervous wreck, borderline hysterical.     She ended up letting him stay behind near one of the black market shops while she stole what needed to be taken.

A lot of the time, the two picked up jobs for ripping items off another, mostly aristocrats and those who just wouldn't notice if their stuff had gone missing.  It wasn't always for coin either.  They had been waiting for the heat to die down on them for a while, Billie's wanted posters had since been creased by wind and stained with dust from the mines.

"I know" He said, taking another deep breath.  It was an odd thing, to be able to breath again after so long.  "I don't know, I'm just feeling nervous.  Not about the mission, but... I just think we should be doing _more_ "

"More of what?" Billie asked, raising an eyebrow.  Her magical void artifacts made her look even more threatening than normal.  Since Oliver was the reason she was in that predicament, he had come up with the idea for her to wear an eye patch.  She liked it.

"I don't know" He shrugged "Something meaningful?"  he made an empty gesture with his hands and gave up.

"You know, for someone who has been around for four thousand years and has a _lot_ of experience talking.  You really don't have a way with words"

He laughed "Perhaps it is because of that very thing, perhaps it is the reason I do not speak as _eloquently_ as I have in the past"

"Eloquently? I was going to say more like... cryptic bullshit" 

He eyed her, she was kidding of course, he could tell by her expression.

He felt strange being around Billie, she was the woman who saved him but he felt _guilt_ , he almost felt like saving him was her burden that she wore as she did the Void Artifacts.  Carried with her through all her life.  She never spoke about the artifacts but in the short time they've been together, he always knew that there were hidden feelings of resentment for what he had done. 

He didn't even know how to begin to apologize, maybe there was no way.  His actions on the Dreadful Wale were actions of a desperate and scared man, He needed to fix the timelines, he needed to help Billie _see_ on her journey.

He watched her packing up the bag, sleep darts and ammo.  He wondered if she had become like Daud, hating him in silence instead of screams.

"Billie"  He said, his voice was almost a whisper and he wasn't quite sure she heard him.  He struggled to repeat himself.  This was something he had done more than once in his time with Billie.  He wanted to make amends, but he wasn't sure it was possible.

He quietly cleared his throat "Billie"

She stopped what she was doing and looked over "What?"

He hesitated "I.... back on the Dreadful Wale" He shook his head "Never mind"

Billie sat on the couch beside him, arms crossed and a stern expression, She was near impossible to read.  He couldn't look at her.

"You've been avoiding looking me in the eye for the last several months" Billie said, her voice steady " _That_ is your problem, you don't face your actions.  You did this" She indicated her arm "And this" She lifted the eye patch up to reveal her Void Shard eye "You may be able to walk the streets pretending you are normal, but we _both_ know you aren't.  I'm not either.  Now I don't hold some huge grudge against you for this, but don't pretend it didn't happen, and don't look at me like I'm something you are ashamed of"

Oliver hesitated, "How did you-"

"It's obvious that you've been wanting to talk about this for a time" She said "And you look at my artifacts when you think I'm not looking, and then look away with an expression of.. I don't know"

"Regret" Oliver offered

" _Do_ you regret this?" She took the glove off her hand to reveal the twisted Void artifact

"I have many regrets, Billie" he answered

She shook her head "It doesn't matter, we all have something we regret, Daud had a lot of regrets.  And I do as well, but walking around with that kind of shame and animosity, that hate that claws at the very core of your being? It's _not_ worth it. I know why you did this, I understand very clearly why this was something that had to happen and I hold no resentment for this anymore." She pushed off the couch and walked back to her bag to zip it up "Are we done with this mushy feelings stuff?"

Oliver nodded "Yes"

"Good, now we can focus on the more important things, like yanking a 'lucky coin' from some rich guy"  She threw her head back and laughed "He's rich! He's not even going to notice it's missing, it's just one coin"

"But it's supposed to be lucky?" Oliver said

I don't know if believe in that" Billie said, hoisting the bag over her shoulder "Now since your so poor at actually fighting, please try to let me handle it if we get into a scuffle"

"I wouldn't be so poor at fighting if you would actually be fair in our training sessions" Oliver said, crossing his arms

Billie had decided the best way to keep Oliver from meeting his death was to train him to fight, she had learned the dirty tricks of the street by living on it for so long, Oliver had a few tricks up his sleeves as well from his time living as a beggar.  But she had also been trained by one of the most feared assassins of his generation, and he decided knowing how to fight properly was time well spent.

That is of course until he actually trained with her, she got impatient that he wasn't picking up things as fast as she thought he should, and more than once she would just stop the session and leave, citing "more important things" that she had to do.

"Fair gets you killed kid, nobody fights fair on the streets."

"You act as though I have no experience living on the streets and fighting to survive"

"No" she said, heading to the door "I know you have experience, I also know you got kidnapped by the envisioned."

"They took me by surprise" he shrugged as if remembering something as mundane as shopping in the market 

* * * *

Emily had started going to work on her father's eulogy, it wasn't something she wanted to do but it was something that must be done.  She looked up over the fireplace in her room, she had placed a painting of her mother and father that was painted by Anton Sokolov long ago, the Empress and her Royal Protector.

The painting never made it's way into the public eye, painted by Anton for Jessamine's private collection, Emily felt like her parents were watching over her with it up, it gave her a warmth not unlike the warmth from the fireplace.

It had been nearly four months since Delilah's coup and almost a month since her father's death.  The funeral was being held off until travelers from other places in the Isles arrived, namely Anton Sokolov, who was at the far edges of Tyvia living out his days painting.  Emily had recently received correspondence from him regarding her previous letter stating that he would arrive in Dunwall as soon as it were possible.

She was glad for the wait, the pause in the planning for a funeral. But she was unable to focus on anything else.   Her work suffered and she let it stack on her desk.    A knock on her door brought her back to reality "Empress Emily." Jameson Curnow entered the room with the newest copy of the Dunwall Courier, Emily had been lax on reading since her father had passed.

"Hello Jameson"  She said, trying to offer him a weak smile

Jameson was one of Emily's close friends and had become a trusted advisor to her.    Previous to Delilah's attack on Dunwall, Jameson had been sent away on a special mission by the Lord Protector, when news of Delilah's coup broke, he simply heeded warnings to stay away from Dunwall.

"What is the news?" She asked

Jameson had been so very helpful to her since his return, his prime job was making sure that she was taking care of herself, not simply her duties, he would often come by each morning with a tray of food and a newspaper, telling her tidbits from the headlines.

"Strange tidings in Karnaca" he said "I know you were recently there" He said, Emily blinked before she realized he had met during Delilah's coup. 

Being back here was strange, she felt like she was reliving her life years in the past, but everything was changed, different, some things had similarities but different outcomes.  And she still remembered everything that had happened to her in the years since Delilah's coup.

The public knew that Corvo Attano died due to injuries sustained from the clock tower explosion during their investigation of Luella Price, but Emily had to watch her father die twice.  And that was something the public need never know.

"What kind of strange?" She asked

"Looks like some cult came to light, the Eyeless"  He read from the paper

"The Eyeless leaders were revealed to be none other than Ivan Jacobi, Delores Michaels and Shan Yun, singer of the popular 'Release Thy Golden Locks, Gloriana" and  'Born in The Month of Darkness'"

"Ivan Jacobi?" Emily asked "Wasn't he a public speaker for the rights of the dead or something?"

Jameson nodded "Apparently on the side he was also a member of this cult" He flipped through the pages "I can't believe you haven't been reading the papers, they've been talking about this for a while" 

"Tell me more" She said

"Well there's reports of strange happenings at the Shindaerey mining complex, but nobody could find any evidence of that.   Someone said they saw that wanted criminal there"

"Who?"

"Billie Lurk? I think her name was"

Emily took a deep breath, Meagan Foster was the woman who had saved her during Delilah's coup, she had given her shelter aboard her ship; The Dreadful Wale and had helped her to dismantle Delilah's conspiracy.   Before going off to fight against Delilah, Meagan revealed that her true identity was Billie Lurk, known assassin and former second in command to the assassin Daud and his band of gang members who called themselves "whalers"

Emily remembered that night on the boat, Billie looked so unhappy, so remorseful,  Emily could have reacted with violence, with anger, but she knew Billie was a different person now, maybe even a better one.

Everyone makes mistakes, she knew that, but were there some mistakes not meant to be forgiven? She knew she could never forgive Daud for the brutal assassination of her mother, she could never forgive the whaler that grabbed her and handed her over to Morgan and Custis Pendleton, and she could never forgive Madame Prudence for the months of psychological torture and abuse she endured at The Golden Cat

But Billie? She felt that Billie had redeemed herself from her past, she showed a remorse that pushed her to do better, to be more.   But what was this?  Getting involved in cultist behavior? Emily shook her head, she hadn't spoken to Billie since that night on the Wale, which felt even longer ago than it truly was.

"Strange" Emily said, "Can I see that?" She motioned for the newspaper

"Of course" He handed it over "I have a tray being sent up to you, I know you haven't been eating very well but, please try. It's fruit and some toast"

She grabbed the paper and set it beside her on the desk "I know that I haven't been the best, I'm sorry Jameson, you know you don't have to tend to me like this"

"I do" He said "Because you've been sending everyone else away for the last several weeks and I'm the only one you let in your chambers"

Emily felt a small smile tug at the edges of her face "Of course I'd let little Jamsy through" She teased, jamsy was one of the nicknames she used to call him when she was younger.  Him being around was comforting, it reminded her of the times she was alone at the Hound Pitts Pub with no one else around but Callista.

"I have of course, left instructions with the maid to leave the tray outside the room and lightly knock"  He said

"You think of everything" She said with a smile, she hadn't smiled in so long. Of course she had gone through the motions for public speaking and the like, but a true smile? She hadn't had a reason. 

Jameson left after informing her that anything she needed, he was only a floor away.  He had taken up residence in the Lord Protectors office for the time being, Emily could trust no one else near her fathers belongings but Jameson.

She stared down at the blank piece of paper, no eulogy, not today.

She picked up the Dunwall Courier and read through the expose they had written about the hidden cult in Karnaca, apparently their primary hangout was The Spector Club, in Upper Cyria.  Emily had heard of it during her time in Karnaca, but she had never seen it.  Upper Cyria was the rich part of town, a gated community only accessible by the railway cars.

She wondered if this had anything to do with what she and the others uncovered in Morley, but she somehow doubted it, it felt different.   She slumped back in her chair, even the idea of investigating it exhausted her, leave it to someone else to solve the ills of the world.  The Empress was taking a vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking some liberties with Corvo in the Peeress And The Price comic, though the clock tower explosion did happen in that comic, Corvo made it out alive. It was just easier to link up his death in my former fic with something that could have ended his life in -this- version of the world as well.


	3. The Twice Lived

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie and Oliver are about to pull of a huge heist, but can they do it without getting caught? Meanwhile in Dunwall, Emily meets with a politician.

Oliver leaned out behind the short wall "Two guards on the other side of the gate" He whispered to the woman behind him

"Can you get closer and hear what they are saying?" Billie asked

"Maybe, let me see"

"Be careful, if you get us killed I'm not saving you again"

Oliver ignored her and tiptoed past the gate, it was easy to do with their backs turned.  Billie and Oliver had taken the carriage here and surprisingly aroused no suspicion from the two men on the other side of the gate.  He wondered why the guards weren't _outside_ the gate to stop people from getting inside, it seemed to make more sense.

_Rich people_ He thought, he climbed atop an old stack of luggage that was resting against the wall of a building and listened closer.

"So what do you think about that disgraced city official?" Said the man on the left

"Ivan Jacobi?  Man it's always the one's you never suspect" responded the man on the right

The first guard coughed "I mean I suppose I shouldn't be talking about it, but I hear the suicide shit was a fake out, that he's gone underground, you think he'll keep up the cultist business?"

"I hope not, that eyeless nonsense creeps me out of my mind" He looked around "Shit, someone is supposed to be patrolling over there" He pointed towards an area Oliver couldn't see from his position

"How about we both go? I gotta pee anyway"

The two guards walked away as Oliver jumped down off the luggage, he crouched down near Billie "They were gossiping about Ivan Jacobi"

Billie grimaced "Even if Jacobi wasn't involved with the eyeless shit, I'd still think he was a scum bag"  Oliver nodded in agreement "We should get going before those guards come back"

"Yeah, hold on I have to get the lock-picks"  Billie riffled through her pack and grabbed out a couple of lockpicks, Oliver took them and inspected them "Are you sure that the alarms aren't going to go off when we pick the lock to the gate?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure, I had an... associate fix them before we came here tonight. He assures me that it's done and that alarm is as dead as a cow in a field"

Oliver gave her a look "What?"

"I don't know, that's what _he_ said. I was confused too."

He bent down and took one of the lock-picks, carefully aligning it with the inside mechanisms until it clicked and the lock fell off the gate, He handed Billie the remaining picks and flashed a grin

"How are you so good at that?" Billie asked, Oliver had proven to be useful on their missions because he was extremely proficient in lock picking and breaking and entering, he could get into a place and out before anyone even knew he was there

"When you are kept in a cage, you develop a keen interest in such things"  He said, almost absentmindedly. 

 

"Right" She said "I... uh" She looked a little uncomfortable and shifted her weight to her other foot, looking everywhere but at him.  He laughed "You can look at me you know, I'm not a sad street urchin anymore" 

 

"Hah, yeah that's... Sorry" Billie said, "Let's do what we came here to do and get out" 

 

The pair had worked out a mission plan before heading to upper Cyria, Oliver was going to be the one who would sneak in and steal the coin back and Billie was going to keep watch, she had the eye for it after all.  And she was pretty confident in Oliver's abilities to get the job done without much trouble.    He agreed with her, her training had come in awful handy many of the times they worked on jobs together.  He was coming into his own as a fighter.  

 

He gave her the signal, she was to enter the area first and cause a distraction for the guards and various late night aristocrats who were conversing about rich nonsense, she nodded and ran through the gate screaming "Oh my!" She said, feigning dizziness, she fainted in the middle of the square, people started crowding around her to inspect what was wrong

 

"What's going on here?" a guard said, crossing his arms and abandoning the post he was stationed at to investigate this new arrival "Hey, aren't you that girl from the posters?" 

 

She didn't pay any mind to his question and kept up the act "I... I've seen the worst, I just came here from the docks, whales everywhere... Bleeding into the waters" 

 

Oliver took this moment to sneak by Eolina Rey's apartment, keeping himself crouched and hidden in the shadows, he took quiet and well thought out steps and was able to hear the commotion Billie was causing nearby  

 

"What are you saying Ma'am?"  A guard said, his tone was one of fear, annoyance and boredom.  Oliver was impressed with Billie's performance, she was giving her all out there 

 

"I'm saying" She said darkly "That the Outsider himself possessed me and told me to kill all the whales" He heard the panicked whispers of various people in the crowed,  He rolled his eyes, did she have to pick _that_ as the story she was going with?  

 

Everyone was so distracted by the woman having near seizures in the center square that they didn't notice him sneak past,  Oliver needed to get to the next carriage station up ahead, it was past this neighborhood and headed directly to Pines Manor, the mansion that Roscoe Calloway lived in.  Like Kirin Jindosh, Roscoe was a man who enjoyed separation from the rest of society, mainly, he wanted to believe he was the only man in the universe.   

Unlike Kirin Jindosh, Oliver heard that Roscoe was as dumb as they come. 

 

He was looking forward to proving that right as he arrived at the station to go to Pines Manor.  He looked back, he could no longer hear the ruckus caused by Billie's performance, he wondered if she was alright, They had planned it so that he'd get the coin and she'd come later on to meet him, then from there they would go to Shindaerey.  He wasn't looking forward to seeing that mountain so close again, not when he just got away... 

 

_Focus_  he thought, this not the time to think about trauma, this was about getting coin, one specific and apparently... _lucky_ coin.  He wondered about the man they were going to meet at the mountain as the Carriage arrived, he stepped in.  He absolutely hated these things, they were too high up, too fast, and made him feel a little more vomit inclined than he was comfortable with.  But he held steadfast, it would be over soon. 

 

* * * *

So much for a vacation, Emily thought bitterly as she headed to a meeting with the newest politician in the running for city official.  His name was Edward Walcrombe and from what Emily gathered, he was a bit of a tool.  

"He was born in Gristol but he moved overseas to Serkonos for about ten years, and hasn't been back to Dunwall since" Jameson informed her "He's uh, he's a bit much. I've worked with him before"

"When did you work with him?"

"It was a time ago, before I came here to work for your father" He informed her, Emily steeled herself. She had dealt with snooty aristocrats, haughty dignitaries, but there was nothing she disliked more than a politician.    "Okay, I'm not ready for this, but how do I look?"   She said as they stopped outside of her office, Edward was called to wait there while Emily arrived, she had been away from Dunwall Tower to give a speech about the new Asylum being opened up in what used to be the flooded district of Dunwall. 

Jameson looked her over "You look as good as you possibly can, your majesty.  Just hold yourself together" She smiled at him, he was a good friend, an honest friend, someone she could rely on in her turmoil.  She took a deep breath and opened her eyes "I'm ready" She said, her expression set in what she called "Empress Mode".  She wasn't intending on staying very long at this meeting.  

Jameson pushed the doors open and made a whole show of it "Sir, may I present the Empress of The Isles, Emily Kaldwin. First of her name"  The man who had been sitting down stood to bow to her, she fought the urge to roll her eyes at him, She had only spent several seconds in his company and already knew his type.  She had met all of them before.   But, regardless, she sat behind her desk and waited for the man to sit back down. 

"I am fine now Jameson, you may leave" She said, she waited before he left and shut the doors behind him before she addressed the man in front of her.  

 

"Edward Walcrombe" She said "You've come here for an endorsement, have you not?"

the man sheepishly smiled and waved his hand through the air as if trying to physically push away those silly ideas.

"Now now Empress, I'm a little hurt at the accusation that I'm merely here for my own interests"

Emily kept her composure and tilted her head up, she had seen her mother do this before in meetings and would always emulate her later on. She felt it made her more... powerful.  "I am doing nothing of the sort, but I know your kind Mr Walcrombe. Politicians are not known for their... shall I say... 'Good tidings'" Her expression was stone as she waited for the man to respond, He sat there gaping at her.   His expression not unlike one of a hagfish.

"Empress, please." He held up a hand "I know that some politicians are low life scum but that isn't me at all. I know that I came from money but I do understand the plights of the people beneath me"

Emily tried to restrain herself from pointing out what he just said "Be that as it may, whatever it is you have come to ask of me. It is going to be a resounding no"

"But you don't even know what it is" Edward said, frowning

"It is either an endorsement or something equally embarrassing.  Royalty is not supposed to get into politics, I thought you would have known that" She stood up "This meeting is over" She indicated the door "Mr Curnow will show you out"

He didn't move, he just sat there. Blank expression on his face, it was as if the man had never been told no before in his life.  But he was sure familar with saying it "No" he said shortly.

"Mr Walcrombe, I assure you that no matter how much you plead your case, I will not endorse you as a city official. It isn't my place, and it isn't fair for the crown to get involved with political elections."  She was still standing, still looking at the door that this man refused to go through.

"But I could _help_ you! This city needs to be cleaned up after that awful witch and her disgusting plant fetish.  I could be the one who puts this city back together. They all need someone to believe in, I could be the face... no, the voice of the people"

Emily raised an eyebrow "Are you forgetting who is on all the coins?"

He stood up, ignoring her and started to pace around.  Emily sighed as he launched into what appeared to be a fully prepared speech

"The darkness will lift as I rise from the dust! The shadows will run scared from the new City Official. I can speed up the cleanup process, I can make you look good" He looked to her.  She crossed her arms "I already look good"

"Did I say good? I meant _better_.  We team up, and I swear to you, that you will never regret it! You don't even have to publicly endorse my campaign, just.... uh.. fund it"  He said with a shrug

"Excuse me? You want me to use gold from the royal stores to fund your campaign?"

"Yes! Exactly, I'm so glad you understand.  So I'll leave, and I'll have my people contact your people.  It'll be a blast." He smiled like a child getting a new toy "You and me, We are going to tear shit up"

Before Emily could even think of a response, Walcrombe left the room and was escorted through the tower by Jameson.  She sat back in her chair, she was going to have to make it absolutely clear that she would never fund his campaign. 

_More paperwork_ she thought, staring down at the pile of paperwork she already had and feeling her desire to do it draining with each passing second.  After a while, the door opened again and Jameson came through.  He paced around much like Walcrombe was doing. Jameson had a habit of clasping his hands behind his back while he stood or walked.  It reminded Emily of an old friend, someone she had lost.

"What an ordeal" He said, shaking his head "I told you Walcrombe was a total headcase"

"Now now" Emily said, turning her focus from the papers to her friend "He's got spirit, that's about all I can say about him positively"

"You're going to tell him that he's not getting any of your money, correct?"

"Of course, but I have other things to attend to before that matter."

Emily was dealing with the fallout of Delilah's disastrous coup, _once again_.  Though things played out different than she remembered from the first time around, some things stayed the same, Yul Khulan's death was unfortunately one of those, now the Abbey was searching for a new high overseer and she heard word down from Karnaca that there were dangerous members of the occult running lose.  She hadn't seen anything in the papers and she wasn't about to jump ship and sail to Karnaca for rumors, but The Abbey was getting restless.

"Empress" One such member of the Abbey bowed to her as she and her companion walked through the halls, because of Delilah, the Abbey felt that the palace needed a spiritual cleansing, which they arrived weeks ago to perform and still haven't left.  She had to assure members of the public that there was nothing to worry about, that the Abbey hadn't taken over the palace and that they do not have the kind of power to put forth restrictions and laws.   Most in the Isles were paranoid when it came to magic and superstition, but none moreso than The Abbey, and with their takeover of the palace, they became more and more strict outside the palace as well.  They seemed intent on pushing forth new religious decrees, and Emily wasn't sure how much power she had to stop them all.

She curtly nodded to the man and walked past him, Jameson cringed "The Abbey is trying to take everything away from this city right from under your nose and yet they have the audacity to play _nice_?"

"What can I do? They've made it clear they don't trust my rule as Empress, they believe I let Delilah's coup happen, that I'm unsafe for those afraid of magic.  I know many of them believe I myself am a heretic"

Jameson chuckled "That's ridiculous!" He shook his head "Heard the same rumors about your father, they'll do anything to discredit your name, won't they?"

Emily nodded, painfully aware of the Outsider's mark underneath her glove. 

 

"Yes, but that's the mark of a royal" She said, "I wouldn't be much of an Empress if I didn't learn to develop tough skin when I was younger.  Corvo told me that things such as this would happen, not everyone would agree with my rule"

They turned a corner and he and Emily parted, He had other matters to attend to, and Emily was exhausted, She felt she was ready to return to her bed and sleep for months, there was so much work to be done, and she couldn't be bothered to do any of it.   She stepped into her bedroom and instead of falling right to sleep like she thought she would when her head hit the pillow. 

 

She laid there on the bed, too big for her to be alone.  She remembered the painful ending to her relationship with Wyman years previously, now she was back here again, Wyman and her were still together, and they would soon send correspondence.  But Emily didn't know how long she could keep herself together, especially in the presence of someone she remembered breaking up with.

She kept up the charade, how was she ever supposed to tell Wyman all the things that had happened? Would she even be able to look them in the eyes? She doubted it.  Years ago, after Delilah's coup, she had decided to end things with Wyman because her relationship was faltering, she felt overwhelmed with her duties and Wyman used to be a safe place to escape from all that, but after the coup... After everything Emily had seen in Karnaca, she had realized that a large part of her just wanted to get lost in a relationship to be safe, to feel some sense of normalcy.

But she never would, it wasn't her life.  And the aristocracy would want a marriage, she didn't know if she could pretend that she was happy for the rest of her life with Wyman, she loved them, that would always be true, but she couldn't continue their relationship, not anymore.    Another thing she would have to go through once again, She sighed and closed her eyes. 


End file.
